Blog

  "Speak Up, Be Heard, Shout, Yell", panel 1, depicts protesters in September 2013 in Maadi, Cairo, marching against the military coup that had taken place in Egypt on July 3, 2013.  The coup overthrew President Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected head of state.   Morsi was elected in June 2012, 16 months after mass demonstrations ended the 29 year dictatorial rule of Hosni Mubarak.  On May 16, 2015, Morsi was sentenced to death by an Egyptian court.  Victims of the political violence can be seen on the placards carried by the protesters.

In panel 2, "Make a Difference", opposition supporters gather by the thousands in the Belarus capital of Minsk to protest fraud in the presidential elections on March 19, 2006.  Western powers did not place sanctions on the former Soviet republic, even though all agreed that the re-election of incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko was a farce.  Lukashenko was returned to power in a fraudulent presidential election on December 19, 2010, with the West's reaction limited to placing a ban on Lukashenko and his associates from traveling to western countries.  On October 11, 2015, presidential elections were held with Lukashenko "winning" with 83% of the vote.  Post election, Ministers from France and Germany stated that loosening sanctions was a possibility as Lukashenko didn't imprison opposition candidates in the 2015 election as he did in 2010.  No mention was made of the voting irregularities that played a part in his re-election.

"Do the Right Thing", panel 3, is an anti coup sit-in outside the Rabba al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo, July 2013.  The protest camp was supporting ousted President Mohamed Morsi.  The camp was raided on August 14, 2013 by Egyptian security forces, resulting in at least 700 deaths and over 4000 being injured.  The Obama administration did not call the military overthrow of the democratically elected government of Egypt a coup, as,  by U.S. law, that declaration would have halted U.S. arms shipments and monetary aid to Egypt, an act that by extension would have reduced U.S. influence with the military coup leadership.

The fourth panel, "Not Just for Yourself", shows an August 1959 protest in Little Rock, Arkansas.  The rally was against the integration of Central High School with nonsensical protest signs stating "Race Mixing Is Communism" and "Stop The Race Mixing March Of The Anti-Christ", while proudly displaying the American flag.  The "March Of The Anti-Christ" is a reference meant to denigrate the civil rights marches held by blacks in their attempt to achieve equal rights with whites.

Panel 5, "But for Everybody", depicts the August 28, 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, led by Martin Luther King Jr. and Joachim Prinz.  This march consisted of between 200,000 and 300,000 protesters converging on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., calling for civil and economic rights for African Americans.  The march, taking place 100 years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, was credited with pushing the U.S. government to action on civil rights, with the passing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  At the rally, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.